Thursday, September 30, 2010

Sick In So Many Ways...

I'm home sick again today.   Sore throat, lack of sleep, mental illness, etc.  I could probably make it in, if it weren't for my extreme fear of infecting my office neighbor, who has been struggling with illness all year and is in a compromised state, immune-system wise.  Plus, it's a girl's overnight to Portland with my bestest buddies on Saturday and I'm determined not to be sick for that.

There are definitely some big advantages to staying home sick.  For one, I'm alone!  Just me...I won't even let the dog and cat in the house cuz they might ask something of me.  Food, water, scratch!  I cleaned through my discomfort yesterday, because I could.  You know you are a domesticated animal when cleaning without anyone home is more appealing than a trip to Hawaii.  My usual cleaning day is Friday, my day off.  Mike usually makes sure he's home on Friday so he can follow me around and talk about stuff that's interesting to him, and I can grow a brain tumor.  I try to clean but I don't feel productive with him around, so I usually end up at Costco or Target, after a long soak in the tub with the door locked.   *sigh*.  Hey, maybe that's why my house is always a mess? 

Less than a week until Liv is home.  It's heartening to see how fast the last 7 weeks have passed, we have another long stretch to Thanksgiving until she's home again and that feels less daunting than before.  *smiling in anticipation*

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Too Much?

It's Halloween at the house.  A little early maybe, but when summer is over I'm ready to immerse myself in Autumn.  I hate winter in Seattle, drippy, slippery and mildewy.  Ick.  This house is useless when the temperature drops below 40 degrees, you can usually find me beneath a pile of blankets on the couch or cooking something just for the warmth the stove offers.  Both of these activities tend to result on an extra 10 pounds of flab that comes to visit most every year.  Hate winter.  I really don't know what I'd do without my heated car seats, not to mention how amazing they are when I have cramps...worth it for that alone.  Liv may find me at her doorstep more than she thought.

 But, I do love the fall.  Halloween and Thanksgiving are my favorite holidays


We threw about every Halloween decoration we had at the mantle and called it good.  It's hard to see the spiderwebs strung all over the place, but there's a lot.  Apparently the bird's name is Kevin.  Yeah, I don't know.

The ladies are back!
                          Oh, Gawd, I just spotted my twisted reflection in the glass, I'm the fourth witch.
  But ya'll already knew that.

Fall also brings us to soccer season and so far every game has been sunny and warm.  That's usually how it goes.  The beginning of the season we are in t-shirts and flip-flops and at the end I'm hiding in the car snuggled up to the afore-mentioned heated seats.


 Too cute!

P.S...Gillbert is still alive and blowing a crazy looking bubble nest. 
P.P.S...I love how google ads pulls content from your posts and tailors then to their ads.  This morning I was a Mormon who loved to throw birthday parties, Ha!  Oh crap, I said "mormon" again.  I'm gonna have to spice this thing up. 

Monday, September 27, 2010

I want a sister wife

Did you watch it?  I did, and I'm not ashamed to say that I'm feeling a new obsession coming on.  My fascination with polygamy is well-known, click the obsessed tab on my facebook and you'll see an ad for 'Big Love' pop up.  My favorite book this summer was 'The 19th Wife', although the Lifetime movie was super lame.  I also loved, loved, loved 'The Lonely Polygamist'.  My interest is likely a result of my deep Mormon pioneer roots, although nowhere in my lds history can we find any indication of polygamy in our family.  We can barely stay married to one person, let alone 3 or 4.  Plus, that pesky Bill Paxton crush I've had since Twister probably makes the lifestyle seem more appealing than it should be.

Gets ya thinking though.  Although, this could never be something I could tolerate in real reality, it seems to have it's merits if you are to believe what this show is bringing.  Sister Wives is TLC's newest reality show...Kody Brown and his three wives have been married for 16 years, have 12 kids and another on the way.  These woman have enviable relationships with each other, they take care of each other's kids, the one who wants to work outside the house does (and comes home to a prepared dinner), the others stay home, one is in school training to be a psychologist(!).  Kody is the husband and appears to be a fantasy man.  He's cute in a surfer dude kinda way, he dotes on his children and wives.  The wives come in all shapes, sizes and degrees of attractiveness and he appears to love them all just the same.  The children seem completely well adjusted and happy, in fact their productivity makes my kids look like lazy slugs (not that that's difficult).  They do yardwork, cook, clean and take care of each other without even a sigh or eye roll.  Seriously. 

I'm anticipating a lot of angst in the episodes to come.  Kody is bringing in a fourth wife, cuter and younger than the others and she comes with three kids of her own.  I smell draaammma.  These are definitely not the Duggars.  Oy!

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Two Weeks

Two weeks from tonight I get to give Olivia a big fat hug.  I can see Liv anytime I want on Skype, which is very nice and I'm grateful to whomever invented Skype.  But it's not the same.  I had a dream last night that I was hugging Olivia and I started to cry  in my dream because it felt the same as when I had to say goodbye in that hallway 6 weeks ago.  I'm a little worried about what it will be like to say goodbye again, I think it won't be as terrible as it was the first time.  But, I do think it will be terrible just the same.  Ack, I'm obsessing about her leaving and she isn't even here yet!  I'm hoping our budget will allow me a visit to Tempe this fall, I know I could use the sunshine in my eyes, but mostly I think 7 weeks is too long to go without seeing her.  It's family weekend at ASU this weekend and Dave, Greta, and Jack are going down tomorrow.  I'm happy she will be with family, I know they are really looking forward to seeing her and her new digs. 

I'm  immersing myself into Halloween decorating this weekend.  It's officially Autumn, although it's felt like Fall in Seattle since mid August.  It's just me and Grace, Mike is away playing golf in Bend with his buddies, Jack will be in Tempe, and Sam will be where she is most every weekend.  The weather forecast for Seattle this weekend is sunny and 73, maybe all those green tomatoes hanging on their sad-looking yellow vines will ripen?  I know I'm going to camp my ass on a lawn chair and soak up as many rays as I can.

Monday, September 20, 2010

Origins

When I was in junior high back in Southern California, way back in the 70's (late 70's!) we had a little humiliating something called "secret admirer days".  This was a handy and tangible way for you, and all that knew you, to gauge how popular you were or weren't.  It involved notes and little candies or balloons that would be delivered to you in whatever class you were in 6th period.  It usually coincided with a holiday, like Valentine's Day.  In would come a group of perfect girls from the cheerleading squad carrying armloads of ammunition with which to destroy our self-worth.  We would all sit there in our desks trying not to look to hopeful, trying to look like we didn't give a Hoover Dam whether we got a secret admirer gift or not. 

Let me just be clear here,  I was not popular.  I was fine.  I had lots of friends, most of whom were Mormon like me, my family didn't have much money, my Dad was weird, I was shy, I was a "goody-good" (which is an actual 70's term).  I wouldn't usually get shut out, but I wasn't floating away with armloads of secret admirer balloon admiration either.  My secret admirers weren't really very secret either, my friends and I would send them to each other as part of a pact to not look too pathetic.  Then, about half way through my 7th grade year I started receiving actual secret admirer cards.  They would be signed from "a little brown wren".  Now the cleverness of this nomenclature was not lost on me, my name was Renae Brown...get it...Brown Wren?  This made the mystery ever so much sweeter, I was sure that I was receiving these cards from the most clever, most foxiest and poetic boy at school.  I knew it wasn't from my Mom because my Mom seemed barely aware she even had children who attended school.  We were kind of left to take care of everything "schooly" on our own.  Which, by the way, is a terrible strategy.  So who?  A teacher...that would be so creepy.  None of my friends fessed up to it.  Bottom line is that I never figured it out.  I continued to receive them every secret admirer day for the whole 3 years I was in junior high.  Never freakin' figured out who it was.  I choose to believe in the foxy poet theory.  So that's what up with the name, aren't you glad you asked?

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Happy Birthday Gracie and...follow thru!

Yesterday my baby turned 9 years old.  I'm not a fan of 9.  It's a big year and it has always seemed to be the line between little and big kid.  So, I guess that means I don't have anymore "little kids".  Gulp.

Grace decided that she wanted to go to Cheesecake Factory because they have the "world's best mac and cheese", and Grace should know cuz she is a mac and cheese expert.  Grandma and Grandpa decided to join us, which was fortuitous as they picked up the tab. 

I had one of their "weight management" salads, everything else on the menu will cause me to immediately gain 5 lbs, literally.  Grandma and I had the Pear, Endive and Blue Cheese.  Delish and allegedly only 450 calories, although I'm always sure they are lying about that, part of a world wide conspiracy.  The treadmill lies to me as well, I halve the number of calories it says I burned because I am jaded and sceptical about everything.

Grace's first gift of the morning was this...

Officially now named Gillbert.  That's after being named Mickey for most of the day, then Luigi, then Yoshi.  Please don't die Gillbert, I'm too busy to deal with that life lesson right now.  She also got a new bike, a lot of art supplies, and Grandma and Grandpa brought a the Just Dance game for Wii.  So fun, we were all really dancing up a storm this morning.  (Note to self:  sports bra)  Hysterical to watch Jack dance to Katy Perry's Hot and Cold.  He is one cool dude.  Lolo brought a cute new outfit and Grandpa Gary brought cold, hard cash.  Grace then got a little sad because she was sure she was getting a full-size bed.  Sigh.   All of the people, all of the time, can not be pleased.  She also requested a giant cookie instead of a cake, like the one we had at Oregano's in Tempe.  Gooey and hot with vanilla ice cream on top.  Drew brought her two gifts, a Disney DVD and some Aqua Sand.  He can be so endearing now that he doesn't live here anymore.  All in all, a good 9th birthday.

 Hello....


I KNOW!  This turned out so stinkin cute.  It's now hanging in Grace's room over her bed and I am incredibly impressed by myself.  I have already found some crazy cute Martha Stewart double sided Halloween paper and have the bias tape and rickrack ready to go.  You can't tell in this picture, but the bias tape is purple and the rickrack is green.  I just fainted.  In fact, yes, I die.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

I'm feeling crafty

Fall always brings me to a strange place.  I feel the icy fingers of depression starting to pull at me, I have a hard time sleeping with the anxiety that accompanies the depression and thus have a really hard time getting out of bed.  I start craving carbs and more wine and chocolate.  I start looking forward to Halloween, which is one of my favorite holidays (maybe the creepy darkness matches my mood?), and Thanksgiving (a carby, drinking holiday?).  I live in abject fear of Christmas, seven kids = a budget-busting, stress-filled month.  I'll post later about my goal of trying to enjoy Christmas this year and changing the way I mentally and actually handle the gifting situation. 

Fall seems to intensify my obsessive-compulsive, controlling tendencies.  Poor family.  I'm just plain crabby.  Bitchy.  Moody.  Intolerant.  Inpatient.  It's not really a good time to touch me...seriously.  I can handle the little ones, in fact I sort of crave their affection, it's simple and asks nothing of me. 

Before this post turns into a more major (I know) downer I will shift to some of my ideas for coping with the afore-mentioned situation.  Crafts?  Let's see...keeps my hands busy, keeps my brain busy, has a positive result (!?), and it's an alone thing, which I really like.  Baking?  I do have that shiny red mixer sitting on my counter top waiting for me.   Also keeps my hands and brain busy and results in a happy family.  All good.  Reading?  Yeah right.  All I have to do is sit down and even appear to be relaxing and I am accosted by well-meaning hordes of people (of all sizes and ages).  Plus my kindle broke on our road-trip, which I have been too depressed about to even address.  Gah.

So...I have decided that my first crafting project will be this...

How to make bunting  

I love bunting.  How cute would this be hanging in Grace's window...purple, green, and blue.  Or hanging in Jack's room in patterns of plaid and stripes.  Or in Halloween prints, or over the Thanksgiving dinner table, or strung over the Christmas tree?  How about in Sun Devil colors for Liv's dorm room!  It's creative and cheap and fast.  I like it.  Now I just have to dust off my sewing machine, go to the fabric store, go the the stationary store, find an uncluttered spot in my house, and find the time.

Friday, September 10, 2010

First Day Drama

Gracie and Jack started school on Wednesday.  Grace for a full day and Jack just for an hour, I think he spent more time deciding what to wear than he spent at school.  He wouldn't allow a first day of school picture so I have no photographic proof, but he looked good.  This morning was his 2nd official school day and he was completely exhausted.  He is already tired, lots of sighing and staring off into space before it was time to go.  Luckily Samantha will be able to drop him off at school most mornings as it is on the way to her nanny job!  Yay!  And yay for all the poor people who will have less opportunity to get a viewing of me in my bad morning hair, no make-uped, wearing my jammies and Uggs, drop offs.  I'm sure Jack is relieved as well, though he is too kind to say so.  Back on the ADHD meds for him next week, maybe a little less sighing and staring and more focus will ensue.  I helped him out with his first essay last night and it was highly apparent that he still needs the Vyvanse.  Without it, he does his homework like someone who had three glasses of wine and their favorite song is playing in the background, loopy and highly distracted. 


I'm so FREAKING READY.

Grace was completely ready with her outfit, she has known what she would wear for a month at least.  Her backpack has been packed for a long time and I'm sure she would have packed her lunch weeks ago if it wouldn't have been lethal to do so.  I wish I could transfer a little of Grace's obsessive compulsive tendencies to Jack, they would both benefit.  We all would.

Grace was thrown for a little bit of a dramatic loop on that first day.  She had a substitute teacher and we were informed that her assigned teacher had decided to take a year's leave of absence at the last minute.  I tried to fish around for some gossip about what might be the reason but they were very tight-lipped.  Hopefully, nothing too serious, maybe she just felt that if she had to deal with even one more child she might jump off a bridge, not that I know what that feels like.

Friday, September 3, 2010

Haters

Today we went up to school to find out which lucky teacher will be Grace's third grade teacher this year.  Ever since we found out that her kindergarten teacher switched to third grade this year Grace has been chanting "not Ms. Sch******l, not Ms. Sch*****l" under her breath like that Brick kid in The Middle.  Which in my world meant that there was no chance in hell that she was getting any teacher other than Ms. S.  It's kismet baby.    In saying all this, what I am NOT saying is that Ms S. is anything other than completely lovely.  Truly.  In Grace's head it's really that she is being taught third grade, which she has stated recently is really the first "cool" grade, by her kindergarten teacher!  The horror.  It's probably like getting a call that you have won a fabulous prize only to find out that you have won a season ski pass...and you DON"T SKI.  (not that I am still bitter about that)  First there is excitement and then there is sadness, followed by anger and, apparently, resentment.

Anyhoo, the hater part is that I couldn't help but notice that every kid staring at that list hanging on the door was hatin' on some other poor, not-present kid, with statements like "NOOOO, not Eric, he pooped his pants in 1st grade!" or NOOO, not Bill!  He totally has ADHD!"  or NOOO, not Sookie, she likes Bill and totally uses Hannah Montana quotes CONSTANTLY to impress him."  That last one was actually real, and, yes, I have changed the names to protect the innocent.  And, by the way, Sookie should totally like Eric, he's way hotter.  But, I digress.

And I'm mad that True Blood isn't on this week.  Why are we skipping for Labor Day??  That's so lame. Still disgressing... Hope your heel heals soon, Liv.  I love you!